Vespaio — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Will return for the decor, service, and food.

The food is fantastic: it looks great and tastes wonderful. We've:

fried octopus Arancino fried calamari & zucchini baked veggies trios A few steps away from the Disney Concert Hall and the opera house (which offer 10% off with a ticket), it features a high ceiling, wood shutters (or wood-like?), an open kitchen, and tiles, with thin stems; it just feels right for me.

We sat by the bar because tables are all booked - it's an opera night. We learned of this Italian restaurant from two ladies we met at last night's concert at Disney - go figure -:).

The bartender doesn't have a fancy shaking motion but is keeping a close eye on us: constantly asking if we need a refill or something. I don't consider it pushy, even though our glasses are half empty. When the bar area got busy, they asked two people to move to accommodate a foursome.

The only TV monitor is showing sports, with eight events going on simultaneously. I glanced at the volleyball from time to time, but was unable to follow: just too hard with seven other things going on. Maybe just one? Change the channel when someone asks?

They've two corporate events going on that night: one with 150 people and one with 50. The hors d'oeuvres look so yummy that it gives me the urge to sneak in, ha ha ha.

By 6pm, the house is packed to the brim. One staff member came looking for wine, which is behind us. He asked the bartender for help - sorry, I don't speak Spanish, but my best guess is that he couldn't find the wine his table had ordered.

Desserts are made in-house except macrons.

Oh, the 10% off with the opera ticket, of course, I forgot all about it...

A friend and I had dinner here on Wednesday July 31, 2024 before a show at the Bellwether Theater. We had reservations. We were seated promptly by the kind host. However, after we were seated, in a restaurant that was 90% empty, we waited for over 10 minutes to be greeted by our server. Other tables around came after we were seated, they were engaged, and received menus, descriptions of the specials for the day and their orders taken. Finally we caught the eye of our waiter, who asked us if we needed anything, or if we needed more time to review the menu.

We let him know that no, we were more than ready, would like waters, and to put in orders for drinks, appetizer and meal.

The menu online is not the same menu presented when you go in person.

For an Appetizer we shared the seared Tuna ($21). It came out on a HUGE plate, looked more like spam than tuna, and was just very poorly plated, and had no taste.

We shared for our main meal a Topini lobster pasta ($32) and mushroom risotto ($30). Both were very, "underwhelming". The lobster was not fresh (rubbery and tasteless), and tasted frozen at best. The risotto was a stand out from a relative POV.

The food came out after ordering probably about 10 minutes, or less. Indicating that it was "premade". It was also so hot as to be inedible for almost 5 or more minutes, a clear indicator of microwave preparation. Both dishes required salt for taste.

All this said, we were never again visited by our wait staff and once we ate, we had to hunt someone down for our bill.

HORRIBLE service, and average to below average food. Not a place...

I just called the restaurant to resolve an issue I was upset about because I don't like leaving one-star reviews before trying to reach out. The person on the other end of the line HUNG UP on me while I was still talking, and only said coldly "your welcome" when I said my concerns and thanked her for looking into it. No assuring that it wouldn't happen again and NO apology. she needs to be retrained. Imagine treating a customer like that who is trying to go out if their way to try to spare you a bad review.

I was professional and polite and explained that when I ate at their restaurant, I tried the Carpaccio and told the server that I didn't want it if it was raw meat. He assured me it was NOT raw meat. Of course when it came I assumed it was cured meat because of what he told me. I ate it and was ill after and now I am worried I have a bug and my Dr. has ordered tests. DO NOT eat the Carpaccio, as she confirmed IT IS RAW MEAT NOT CURED and will likely make you ill, as it did to me. The server lied to me and I can't imagine why, I would of ordered something else. I have noticed the Carpaccio is not on the online menu and is only on the in person menu which is weird and make me think they are trying to hide the fact they serve raw meat.

The pizza is good here and I liked the atmosphere, but unfortunately the serving staff are very rude and lie. Good luck working in customer service to the lady I spoke to...